Researchers from Australia and New Zealand have found that legalizing the domestic sale of nicotine vaping products could have a massive impact on New Zealand’s population health and health system costs, potentially saving the country NZ$3.4 billion.
The researchers behind the study used a multi-state life-table model to simulate potential health system costs. In order to do so, the model relied on data pertaining to 16 tobacco-related diseases. While the potential savings in the billions of dollars is truly remarkable if accurate, the researchers were quick to note their “uncertainty” of the data produced by their efforts to model the potential savings of easing restrictions on nicotine vaping products, such as e-cigarettes.
“We modeled, with uncertainty, the health and cost impacts of liberalizing the vaporized nicotine market for a high-income country, New Zealand (NZ).”
In the United Kingdom, the notion of smokers switching to vaping has been publicly endorsed by Public Health England. Meanwhile, in Australia, public health experts continue to debate the scientific findings and potential public health concerns surrounding vaping.
